Imtiaz Buhardeen increases stake in Sierra Cables to 20 per cent

By Hiran H.Senewiratne

High net worth individual investor Imtiaz Buhardeen on Friday increased his collective stake in Sierra Cables PLC to 20 per cent

Imtiaz’s stakes are via Carlines Holdings Ltd. and Almas Organization Ltd. As at September, the collective stake was 17.5 per cent and since then he has been collecting select quantities to go up to the 20% mark. He said the stake was increased in value, given the upside he sees in the market segments served by Sierra Cables, CSE sources said.

On Friday, Sierra Cables saw 1.73 million shares traded between a high of Rs. 14 and a low of Rs. 13.50 before closing at Rs. 13.80, down by 20 cents. During the week 14.4 million of Sierra shares changed hands via 1,589 trades for Rs. 197 million. An intra-week high of Rs. 14.50 was achieved though it was below the 52-week record of Rs. 14.80.

Sierra Holdings Ltd. owns a 58 per cent stake in Sierra Cables, public float of which is 27.46 per cent; held by 21,388 shareholders as at September 30.

Amid those developments, at the beginning the CSE indicated some negative performance. Later showed some marginal increase and buying interest was witnessed in blue chip companies. Therefore, the All-Share Price Index increased by two per cent. Index heavy Commercial Leasing and Finance share price declined by 19 percent or Rs 7.70. Its shares started trading at Rs 47.70 and at the end of the day they dropped to Rs 32.50, thus dragging the All- Share Price Index by 110 negative points.

However, Expolanka Holdings and Browns Investments have shown acute price escalations. Expolanka shares gained by five percent or Rs 14.74. Its share price shot up to Rs 295 from Rs 280.25, contributing 64 points to the All- Share Price Index and Brown and Company shares shot up to Rs 315 from Rs 281. Its share price appreciated by 10 percent or Rs 28.25, thus contributing positive points to the All- Share Price Index.

Both indices moved upwards. The All- Share Price Index went up by 46.09 points and S and P SL20 rose by 81.8 points. Turnover stood at Rs 6.7 billion sans any crossings. In the retail market, top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were, Commercial Leasing and Finance Rs 2.6 billion (80 million shares traded), Expolanka Holdings Rs 983 million (3.4 million shares traded), Browns Investments Rs 598 million (40.7 million shares traded), Brown and Company Rs 371 million (1.2 million shares traded), Vallibel One Rs 184 million (2.4 million shares traded), Royal Ceramic Rs 146 million (2.1 million shares traded) and LOLC Holdings Rs 145 million (147,000 shares traded). During the day 252 million share volumes changed hands in 39000 transactions.

Yesterday, the US dollar was quoted at Rs 202.26, which was the Central Bank controlled price, to prevent escalations of essential imported items and inflation in the country.